B2B growth marketing strategy in 2026

“Give customers a reason to trust you before you ask them to recommend you.”

Customer stories, references and recommendations start with a relationship worth talking about.

In this episode, Michaela Alexander joins David Hayes to discuss how to earn that advocacy: understand what customers value, help them succeed and build trust before asking them to speak on your behalf.

About the episode

It’s easy for customer marketing to become a list of requests. A case study. A reference call. A speaking opportunity. But what is the customer getting in return?

Drawing on her experience at Autodesk, Freshworks and Temporal, Michaela shares how to build programs customers want to participate in—and how to connect those relationships to business results.

From customer documentaries to advisory boards, she explores what earns participation, what puts relationships under strain and how marketing and customer success can work better together.

“When you flip it and really start to listen, a different level of trust gets built.” MICHAELA ALEXANDER

Watch the latest episode to learn:

How to build advocacy around what matters to your customers.
How to create advisory boards that give customers a meaningful voice.
How her Discover, Nurture, Activate framework helps you earn participation before asking for it.
How to measure customer marketing’s contribution across sales, product and brand.